Clinical Focus

Effects of an Extended Version of the Lee

Silverman Voice Treatment on Voice
and Speech in Parkinsons Disease
Jennifer Spielman
National Center for Voice and Speech, Denver, CO

Lorraine O. Ramig
Leslie Mahler
University of Colorado at Boulder and
National Center for Voice and Speech

Angela Halpern
National Center for Voice and Speech

William J. Gavin
Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Purpose: The present study examined vocal SPL,

voice handicap, and speech characteristics in
Parkinsons disease (PD) following an extended
version of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment
(LSVT), to help determine whether current treatment dosages can be altered without compromising clinical outcomes.
Method: Twelve participants with idiopathic PD
received the extended treatment version (LSVT-X),
similar to LSVT except that it was administered
twice a week in 1-hr sessions over 8 weeks and
required substantially more home practice. Recordings were made in a sound-treated booth
immediately before and after treatment, and again
6 months later. Vocal SPL was measured for
4 different tasks and compared with data from
a previous study, in which participants with PD
received traditional LSVT 4 times a week for 4 weeks.
Listener ratings were conducted with audio samples from both studies, using sentence pairs from a

ver the past 15 years, the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) has been established as the most efficacious behavioral treatment for voice and speech
disorders in Parkinsons disease (PD; Pinto et al., 2004;
Ramig, Countryman, Thompson, & Horii, 1995; Ramig, Sapir,
Countryman, et al., 2001; Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman,
2001; Schulz, 2002; Yorkston, Spencer, & Duffy, 2003). To

standard passage. LSVT-X participants completed

the Voice Handicap Index ( VHI) before each set
of recordings.
Results: Participants receiving LSVT-X significantly increased vocal SPL by 8 dB after treatment
and maintained increased vocal SPL by 7.2 dB at
6 months. VHI scores improved for 25% of the
LSVT-X participants following treatment, and
listener ratings indicated audible improvement in
speech.
Conclusions: LSVT-X successfully increased
vocal SPL (which was consistent with improvements following traditional LSVT), decreased
perceived voice handicap, and improved functional
speech in individuals with PD. Further large-scale
research is required to truly establish LSVT-X
efficacy.
Key Words: Parkinsons disease, clinical
research, voice treatment, dysarthria

date, the LSVT is the only speech treatment for PD supported

by published Level I efficacy data (C. Goetz, personal communication, March 2003; Ramig, Sapir, Countryman, et al.,
2001), and LSVT research currently comprises the majority of
peer-reviewed publications in the area of phonatory-respiratory
treatment for dysarthria (Yorkston et al., 2003). The LSVT
has also been applied successfully to treat voice and speech

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007 A American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
1058-0360/07/1602-0095

95

disorders in adults with multiple sclerosis (Sapir et al., 2001)

and ataxic dysarthria (Sapir et al., 2003), and in children with
cerebral palsy (Fox, Boliek, & Ramig, 2005) and Down
syndrome (Robinson, Petska, Halpern, Ramig, & Fox, 2004).
All published LSVT outcome data to date are based on a
treatment schedule of four individual treatment sessions of
5060-min duration per week for 4 consecutive weeks. These
data document both short- and long-term effects on voice
and speech (Ramig, Sapir, Countryman, et al., 2001; Ramig,
Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001), and also reveal the potential impact of LSVT on facial expression, swallowing, and
neural function (El-Sharkawi et al., 2002; Liotti et al., 2003;
Narayana et al., 2005; Spielman, Borod, & Ramig, 2003).
These consistent and well-documented outcomes are particularly significant in light of early opinions that all but dismissed
the effectiveness of speech treatment for PD (Allan, 1970;
Sarno, 1968). Such convictions were later called into question
by studies that employed more frequent and intensive treatment (Johnson & Pring, 1990; Robertson & Thomson, 1984)
and started reporting successful outcomes. It is now believed
that intensity of treatment (hour-long, high-effort sessions),
frequency of clinical contact (four times a week for 1 month),
sensory retraining (Fox, Morrison, Ramig, & Sapir, 2002), and
simple instructions (think loud) are key to the success of
the LSVT. The classic speech and voice improvements seemed
to require more frequent and intensive practice in order to
make the transition from an externally cued (performance) response to a spontaneous, internally generated (learned) behavior.
Another long-held belief likely to have influenced early
treatment approaches is that the speech and voice characteristics associated with PD, including reduced loudness, monopitch and monoloudness, and imprecise articulation (Darley,
Aronson, & Brown, 1969a, 1969b), resulted entirely from
underlying rigidity and decreased muscle activation. PD certainly is accompanied by measurable changes in laryngeal
muscle activation (Baker, Ramig, Luschei, & Smith, 1998;
Luschei, Ramig, Baker, & Smith, 1999) associated with significantly decreased vocal SPL (Fox & Ramig, 1997). However, recent research on motor learning with people who have
PD has revealed additional motor and cognitive changes that
help explain why overcoming these deficits has been particularly challenging. For example, the discrepancy between
the ability to perform well in response to an external cue and the
apparent inability to internally cue oneself is a fundamental
aspect of bradykinesia, one of the key signs of PD (Berardelli,
Rothwell, Thompson, & Hallett, 2001). The muscle activation
deficits that occur in bradykinesia are believed to result from
inadequate merging of kinesthetic feedback, motor output, and
context feedback within the basal ganglia that is necessary
to select and reinforce an appropriate gain in the motor command (Berardelli et al., 2001; Desmurget, Grafton, Vindras,
Grea, & Turner, 2004). This is supported by single-cell recording studies (Turner & Anderson, 1997) and recent brain
activation imaging studies (Desmurget et al., 2004; Turner,
Grafton, McIntosh, DeLong, & Hoffman, 2003; Turner, Grafton,
Votaw, DeLong, & Hoffman, 1998) showing a correlation in
activation of neurons or muscle with increasing movement
amplitude.
With regard to speech, abnormal sensory processing of the
reduced amplitude output may contribute to the commonly

reported feeling that the speaker is using sufficient effort for

loud and intelligible speech, when in fact vocal SPL and articulatory precision are reduced. The perception is so strong that
people with PD routinely insist that their friends and spouses
are losing their hearing rather than consider that they may be
speaking softly (Fox et al., 2002). We hypothesize that training
amplitude targets the proposed pathophysiological mechanisms underlying bradykinesiainadequate muscle activation
(Farley, Sherman, & Koshland, 2004; Hallett & Khoshbin,
1980; Pfann, Buchman, Comella, & Corcos, 2001). This is
done via intensive sensorimotor training that teaches clients to
recognize and use increased effort and louder speech during
everyday living. In this manner, we do not try to bypass
basal ganglia pathology but instead attempt to improve basal
ganglia functioning, as well as utilize other possible compensatory brain mechanisms. By directly addressing this
sensory mismatch, LSVT teaches clients with PD to recalibrate
their perception of normal loudness so that by the end of
1 month of therapy, they spontaneously speak with greater
amplitude; that is, the internal cue for amplitude is restored
or improved.
Behavioral treatment of voice and speech in PD therefore
involves learning to speak at a level of loudness that the client
perceives to be too loud and that requires more than usual
effort. This loudness level is perceived by listeners to be within
normal limits. Additionally, as the automaticity of speaking
and scaling vocal loudness is disrupted by damage to the basal
ganglia in PD, the speaker must do purposefully what had once
been done automatically (Brown & Marsden, 1991; Darley,
Aronson, & Brown, 1975). Because the output of speech
production subsystems is scaled down, treatment requires
clients with PD to learn new output parameters for existing
motor programs in order to produce intelligible speech. Education regarding sensory awareness of the internal cue that
represents the appropriate levels of effort and loudness is also
required. Morris and Iansek (1996) recommended treatment
strategies that incorporate cueing and repetition to elicit more
normal movement in clients with PD. Overlearning a new
motor task through intensive practice and repetition has the
potential to improve task automaticity, decrease the perception
of effort required to perform the task, and create a stronger
memory (habit) for the motor behavior (Schmidt & Lee, 1999).
Intensity of practice is also emerging as a key variable in neural
plasticity and the recovery of function following brain damage (Fisher & Sullivan, 2001). By incorporating these principles of repetition, high intensity, and high frequency of practice,
LSVT appears to help shift loud speech from a performance in response to an external cue to a learned, internally
cued response.
In addition to increasing vocal loudness levels for daily
communication, there is evidence that the frequent, intensive
practice and repetition of LSVT generate other changes in
speech production, including improvements in voice quality,
speech intelligibility, and articulation (Baumgartner, Sapir, &
Ramig, 2001; Dromey, Ramig, & Johnson, 1995; Spielman,
Ramig, & Fox, 2005), and promote positive changes that
extend to nonverbal behaviors, such as facial expression
(Spielman et al., 2003) and swallowing (El-Sharkawi et al.,
2002). These distributed effects of LSVT may be the result
of reported evidence for neural coupling of orofacial muscles

96 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007

to neural systems of laryngeal and respiratory control in human

studies (McClean & Tasko, 2002). Neural coupling may
explain, in part, the potential spread of effects from stimulation
of increased vocal effort and loudness (respiratory and laryngeal systems) to orofacial muscles (articulation, oral phase
swallowing). Recent neural imaging studies using positronemission tomography demonstrate a shift of brain activity for
speech following LSVT (Liotti et al., 2003; Narayana et al.,
2005), whereby abnormal levels of cortical activation before
treatment are reduced following treatment, and basal ganglia
activation increases. Taken together, these changes are believed to reflect more normal and greater activation across
motor systems, driven in part by increased amplitude of movement that is gained through training vocal loudness.
All speech-language pathologists certified in the LSVT
are instructed to administer four individual treatment sessions
per week for 4 weeks. In order to preserve the quality of treatment outcomes, the trademarked name LSVT is used only
when the treatment is administered as prescribed. However, for
speech-language pathologists in a variety of working situations, the frequency of treatment can become an obstacle to
providing LSVT. Clients, especially those who have mobility trouble and/or are still employed, may also find this schedule challenging. As a consequence, rather than withhold
treatment, clinicians may provide group therapy or simply
offer fewer weekly sessions. Although such treatments may
have merit, the few available studies examining the effects
of modifying the administration of LSVT remain inconclusive (see Stroud & Belin, 2004; Wohlert, 2004), mostly due
to methodological differences with existing LSVT efficacy
literature.
Given the realities of scheduling and reimbursement in
the clinical world, it is important to evaluate whether the LSVT
can be implemented with more flexibility than has been previously reported. The current schedule of LSVT16 sessions,
each an hour long, delivered over 4 weeksis thought to
contribute to successful learning, consistent with theories
suggesting that intensity and repetition of practice improve
learning and performance (Kleim, Jones, & Schallert, 2003;
Schmidt & Lee, 1999). However, extending practice over a
longer period of time (e.g., two times a week for 8 weeks) may
also help establish new behaviors and improve performance
in PD because it allows for additional practice during the
treatment period.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects
of an extended version of the LSVT, henceforth LSVT-X,
defined by the same amount of clinician contact time (16 hr)
extended over a longer period of time. We chose an administration of two 1-hr clinic sessions a week for 8 weeks, maintaining the schedule of daily home practice and carryover
assignments from traditional LSVT. This schedule preserved
the total number of clinic-based therapy sessions typically
administered but distributed them over a longer time period.
Providing treatment twice a week in 1-hr sessions maintained
some of the potency of more frequent and intensive treatment but reduced the weekly face-to-face time commitment
for both therapists and clients. This schedule also allowed
for more at-home practice (homework) during the treatment
period, which might be helpful in establishing new habits.
A key element of this dosage was that homework exercises

were not optional and were considered to be a significant part

of the treatment plan. These clients were required to practice
at home once (for 5 to 10 min) on days they received treatment
in the clinic, and twice (for 20 to 30 min total) on days they
did not receive treatment. Compliance with this homework
requirement was closely monitored and strictly enforced.
To evaluate the effects of treatment, we measured vocal
SPL, perceived voice handicap, and functional communication in PD, and compared outcomes with an earlier efficacy
study in which similar individuals received traditional LSVT
(Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001). Vocal SPL was
chosen to reflect the most basic, objectively quantifiable
treatment effect to be expected following traditional LSVT,
correlating with vocal loudness. Functional improvement in
communication was measured using both speakers perceptions
of their level of voice handicap (Voice Handicap Index [VHI];
Jacobson et al., 1997) as well as listener ratings of paired
speech samples recorded before and after treatment. We asked
the following questions:
1. Is there a significant change in vocal SPL after LSVT-X
treatment?
2. Were any observed changes maintained at 6 months?
3. Does LSVT-X produce changes in vocal SPL comparable to increases observed in a previous LSVT study?
4. Is there evidence of functional improvement in communication following LSVT-X?

Method
Participants
Fifteen participants (10 men, 5 women) diagnosed with
idiopathic PD were recruited from the Denver, CO, area to
participate in LSVT-X treatment. All participants signed the
human consent form approved for this study by the institutional review board of the University of Colorado, Boulder,
and were provided therapy free of charge. Because the performance of these participants was intended to be compared
with results from a past study, all 15 recruited participants were
placed directly in the LSVT-X treatment group (henceforth
X-PD). However, in order to make sure their level of motivation was consistent with past participants, during recruitment
all individuals were told that they could be placed at random
into either a 1-month group (receiving treatment four times
a week for 4 weeks) or a 2-month group (receiving treatment
twice a week for 8 weeks). All participants expressed willingness to join either group. At the end of the study, all participants were debriefed regarding the pretense that there were
two treatment groups. One male participant was discharged
midway through the therapy due to complications from an
unrelated medical condition, and results from 2 female participants were later omitted after their diagnoses changed from
idiopathic PD to Parkinsons Plus syndromes (one participant was diagnosed with multiple systems atrophy and the
other with progressive supranuclear palsy).
The final group of 12 new participants (9 men and 3 women)
was compared before and after treatment with two other groups
of participants from an earlier study conducted by members
of the same research team (Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman,
Spielman et al.: LSVTExtended and Parkinsons Disease

97

2001). In the earlier study, one group of participants with PD

(henceforth T-PD; n = 14; 7 men and 7 women) received
traditional LSVT, and another group of control participants
with PD (henceforth NT-PD; n = 15; 7 men and 8 women)
received no treatment. All participants were required to see an
otolaryngologist before participating in the current study, in
order to exclude anyone for whom high-effort voice therapy
was not appropriate, as well as anyone who had laryngeal
findings inconsistent with PD. Participants in both studies were
stable on their antiparkinsonian medications throughout.
Formal cognitive testing was not done; however, all participants were living independently and able to complete all evaluation and treatment tasks. All participants had speech and
voice characteristics typical of PD, as evaluated by three speechlanguage pathologists with extensive experience working with
this population.
A 2 3 (Gender Group) analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to examine possible differences among current and
historical groups for age, years since diagnosis, stage of disease
(Hoehn & Yahr, 1967), and severity of dysarthria (05, where
0 = none and 5 = severe), followed by post hoc Tukey t tests
(a = .05). No significant differences were found for any of
the variables among any groups. Group characteristics appear
in Table 1.

Treatment
Participants in the X-PD group received two 1-hr sessions
of LSVT-type treatment per week for 8 consecutive weeks.
Treatment followed the tasks and hierarchy of traditional
LSVT (Ramig, Countryman, OBrien, Hoehn, & Thompson,
1996; Ramig et al., 1995), except the hierarchy was distributed
over 2 weeks for each type of task. In brief, LSVT uses multiple repetitions of high-effort, loud, sustained ahs (15 repetitions), high- and low-pitch glides (15 repetitions each of
high and low pitch), and functional sentence repetition (5 repetitions of 10 sentences) to train healthfully produced, increased
loudness. These daily tasks make up the first half of the
treatment sessions. This louder voice is then carried over into
speech using a hierarchy in which the utterances increase in
length and complexity over the 4-week period. The speech
hierarchy makes up the second half of the treatment session.
As in the typical LSVT schedule, participants also completed
5 to 10 min of homework once a day on treatment days, and
20 to 30 min of homework on nontreatment days. Homework
sheets with assigned tasks and carryover activities were provided at each session and completed by participants on a daily
basis. Other than extending the treatments sessions over a
longer period of time, the main difference between the two
approaches is that LSVT-X requires a significantly greater
amount of home practicing (96 assignments for LSVT-X
versus 40 assignments for LSVT). The Appendix provides a
comparison of the two treatment schedules. As noted above,
home practice was not optional, and the clinician began each
session with a check of all assigned homework and carryover activities.

Data Collection
Participants were recorded twice during the week before
therapy (pre1 and pre2), twice immediately after therapy

(post1 and post2), and twice at 6 months following therapy

(follow-up1 and follow-up2). Acoustic data were collected
in an IAC sound-treated booth. All equipment and conditions
were the same as those used to collect data for the previously
published study (Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001)
that served as comparison data (see Statistical Analysis subsection below). No treating therapist collected data, and therapists were kept out of sight during data collection to avoid
acting as external cues or biasing data collection. Participants
were asked to sustain phonations, read standard paragraphs,
describe a standard picture, and talk spontaneously as part of
a larger protocol. As in past studies, participants were never
cued for vocal loudness during data collection sessions. Tasks
were repeated over 2 recording days to examine speech
variability, which is often described in this population (King,
Ramig, Lemke, & Horii, 1994). Participants were stable on
their medications, and all attempts were made to keep recording times consistent across sessions and to collect data from
participants at the same time in their medication cycles, typically 1 hr after taking medications.
Acoustic data were transduced using a head-mounted condenser microphone (AKG 410) positioned at a distance of
8 cm from the speakers lips and recorded to a two-channel
digital audiotape at a sampling rate of 22.5 kHz per channel.
SPL data were collected directly with a high-quality Type 1
sound level meter (Bruel & Kjaer Model 2230) placed at a
distance of 30 cm from the speakers lips. SPL measurements
were recorded by hand using the method established by
Fox and Ramig (1997). In this method, the data collector
hand records peak SPL information displayed in 1-s intervals
throughout each speech task and constantly monitors the
distance from mouth to sound level meter between tasks. This
method yields mean SPL comparable to software-derived
measurements (Ramig et al., 1995) and was chosen in order
to duplicate the procedures used in the Ramig, Sapir, Fox,
and Countryman (2001) study. To measure psychosocial functioning related to voice, participants completed the VHI
(Jacobson et al., 1997) before and after treatment, and again
at the 6-month follow-up visit. The VHI is a questionnaire with
30 statements (e.g., My voice makes it difficult for people
to hear me) reflecting physical, functional, and emotional
aspects of voice production and potential handicap relating to
specific voice difficulties.

Perceptual Ratings
Four speech-language pathology graduate students took part
in a listening study designed to evaluate perceptible changes in
connected speech following treatment, using a paired comparison paradigm. Listeners were presented with a pair of
sentences extracted from a reading of The Rainbow Passage
(Fairbanks, 1960) for each participant, recorded during pre1
and post1 data collection sessions. Sentence pairs were extracted at random from six possible sentences, and normalized
for SPL using a custom-built MATLAB software program
(Mathworks, 1999). Although therapy focused on increasing
vocal loudness, we chose to examine other aspects of speech
that would indicate improvement in speech and voice production, because we already had objective measures of
SPL. Specifically, raters were asked to base their judgments

98 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007

TABLE 1. Mean age, time since diagnosis, stage of disease (Hoehn & Yahr, 1967), voice and speech severity, and voice and speech
characteristics for participants in each of three groups.

Group
X-PD

Participant
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
11
13
14

62
45
60
61
82
80
75
70
71
69
69

15

62
67.2
10

M
SD
T-PD

M
SD

Years since
diagnosis

Hoehn & Yahr

stage

Voice and
speech severity

11
4
5
5
6
0.5
7
8.5
3
4
1

2
3
2

3
3
3
2.5
2

1
1
0
2
5
4
3
4
3
1
5

2
4.8
3.1

2
2.5
0.5

2
2.6
1.7

67

17

59

59

2.5

10
12
14

60
51
76

4
4
3

5
0
4

19
23
27
35
37

74
79
80
61
76

17
1.5
3

20

4
0
3
3
5

38
40
42

67
75
66

7
15
8

2
3
2

2
1
4

3.1
1.2

2.9
1.7

2.5
2
3
3

1
0
4
3

3
2
1
2

2
1
0
3

2
2.5

3
2
3
3
4

1
3
2.2
0.7

4
2
2.3
1.3

M
SD
NT-PD

Age (years)

67.9
9
9
13
16
18

74
70
64
64

20
21
24
25

91
77
47
80

26
28
30
32
36

72
79
70
80
78

39
43

48
74
71.2
11.8

8.6
6.3
2
7
19
6
2
6
0.5
7
12
6
8
17

1
8
7.4
5.4

Voice and speech characteristics

Reduced loudness, breathy
Reduced loudness, monopitch
Imprecise articulation
Hoarse, breathy, monopitch, imprecise articulation
Breathy, monopitch and loudness
Hoarse, reduced loudness, imprecise articulation
Strained/strangled, fast rate, reduced loudness
Reduced loudness, monopitch, breathy
Breathy, reduced loudness
Imprecise articulation, variable rate, breathy,
reduced loudness
Breathy, reduced loudness, pressed voice

Fast rate with palilalia, breathy, hoarse,

imprecise consonants
Breathy, reduced loudness,
monopitch and loudness
Reduced loudness, slow rate, diplophonia,
imprecise consonants
Imprecise articulation, breathy, reduced loudness
Strained/strangled with pitch breaks,
imprecise consonants, breathy
Strained/strangled, breathy, pitch breaks
Hoarse/strained, imprecise articulation
Reduced loudness, vocal fry, monopitch
Reduced loudness, imprecise articulation,
monopitch and loudness, breathy,
tremor, slow rate
Fast rate
Hoarse
Reduced loudness, monopitch,
imprecise articulation

Reduced loudness, breathy

Reduced loudness, hoarse, monopitch
Reduced loudness, monopitch breathy,
imprecise articulation
Mono pitch, reduced loudness
Hoarse, reduced loudness
Imprecise articulation, tremor, monopitch,
strained, variable rate
Strained, hoarse
Reduced loudness, vocal fry, monopitch
Hoarse/strained/pressed
Hoarse/strained
Reduced loudness, hoarse/strained,
imprecise articulation, mono pitch
Reduced loudness, hoarse/strained, fast rate
Monopitch, breathy

Note. Hoehn & Yahr stages range from 1 to 5, with higher stages indicating greater severity. Severity ratings of speech and voice deficits are on a
scale of 0 to 5, with 0 = none, 1 = mild, 3 = moderate, and 5 = severe. Dashes indicate that data were not available. X-PD = Lee Silverman Voice
TreatmentExtended (LSVT-X) Parkinsons disease (PD) treatment group; T-PD = treated PD group from Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman
(2001); NT-PD = untreated PD group from Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman (2001).

Spielman et al.: LSVTExtended and Parkinsons Disease

99

on voice quality, articulatory clarity, rate, intonation, and

naturalness.
Presentation was randomized by both participant and condition (pre- or posttreatment), such that pre- and posttreatment
conditions were paired for each speaker but their order within
each pair was randomized. Samples were presented via computer, and listeners decided whether the second sample sounded
better than the first (a rating between 1 and 50), the same as
the first (a rating of 0), or worse than the first (50 to 1) using a
visual analog scale from 50 (much worse) to +50 (much
better). Each new sentence pair was presented on a screen with
the scale and the instructions clearly visible. Twenty percent
of the pairs were repeated to measure intrarater reliability.

Statistical Analysis
Performance of the X-PD group on each of the four speech
and voice tasks for this study (sustained phonation, reading
The Rainbow Passage, monologue, and picture description)
was evaluated using a 2 3 4 completely randomized block
ANOVA design that examined differences between data collected at each time period (i.e., between pre1 and pre2, between
post1 and post2, and between follow-up1 and follow-up2
recordings). There were no significant differences between the
recording days at each time before and after treatment and
at follow-up, though an overall trend toward increasing intensity from the follow-up1 to the follow-up2 recording was
observed. Therefore, to simplify the ANOVA design and
increase its power, the data for each participant at each time
period were averaged to produce mean pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up scores. These data were then reevaluated using a 3 4 completely randomized block ANOVA
design. The first factor was the three levels of the assessment
time (pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up). The second factor was the four levels of the assessment conditions
(phonation, Rainbow, picture, and conversation). Post hoc
comparisons using Tukey tests were applied to determine which
means significantly differed from each other.
The interpretation and generalization of the outcomes of the
above analyses are restricted because this study of LSVT-X
does not have a control group that received either no treatment
or an alternative treatment as in previously published studies
on LSVT. To address the issues of generalization, it would
be desirable to know whether the treatment effect observed
in the participants receiving LSVT-X compares favorably to
the control groups or groups receiving typical LSVT (Ramig,
Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001). However, given that the
earlier published data were collected under different experimental protocols in a different laboratory (albeit similar to the
current study), direct comparisons of group performances by
incorporating data from both studies into a single ANOVA
procedure may violate assumptions concerning equality of
variance, because the studies may have different sources and
degrees of measurement error. An alternative approach is available if one assumes that a reasonable estimate of the mean
vocal SPL of two different populations can be made from
the previously published data. The newly obtained data under
the LSVT-X protocol would be represented as a sample mean
to be statistically compared with each of the estimates of the
population means (published data) using a variation of z test

of means; in this case, a one-sample t test where the population variance needed for the error term is estimated from the
sample variance (Sheskin, 1997). In keeping with standard
practice of controlling for Type I errors by multiple testing, the
alpha level of a given t test is adjusted by dividing the familywise error rate of .05 by the number of tests performed, in this
case 24. Thus, the adjusted alpha level is .0021 for the analyses that are reported in Tables 3 and 4 (see discussion below).
The ANOVA and the one-sample t tests test were performed
using SPSS Version 12, and the post hoc t tests were calculated by hand according to the formulas described in Kirk
(1995).

Results
Questions 1 and 2: Is There a Significant Change
in Vocal SPL After LSVT-X Treatment? Were Any
Observed Changes Maintained at 6 Months?
The 3 4 randomized block ANOVA revealed that in all
conditions, substantial increases in SPL were seen from preto posttreatment, with slight decreases from posttreatment
to follow-up (see Figure 1 and Table 2). ANOVAs revealed a
significant main effect for time of assessment, F(2, 20) = 89.61,
p < .001, with a large effect size (h2 = .90). Post hoc tests
revealed a significant increase from pre- to posttreatment
(t = 8.80, p < .001), a significant increase from pretreatment to
follow-up (t = 7.42, p < .001), and a nonsignificant decrease
between posttreatment and follow-up.
There was also a significant interaction effect for Time of
Assessment Test Condition, F(2, 20) = 15.15, p < .001, with
a moderate effect size (h2 = .60). Post hoc testing indicated that
all speaking conditions showed significant increases in SPL
from pre- to posttreatment and from pretreatment to follow-up,
with the exception of conversation at follow-up. There was no
significant decrease in SPL from posttreatment to follow-up
for any condition.

Question 3: Does LSVT-X Produce Changes

in Vocal SPL Comparable to Increases
Observed in Previous LSVT Studies?
Estimation of population means before treatment. Using the
data published in Ramig, Sapir, Fox, and Countryman (2001),
the population means for SPL were estimated to be represented
by the group means reported for each speech condition (see
Table 3). In general, the means of the X-PD group before
treatment were slightly higher than means representing estimates of the performance of the population derived from both
the treated and untreated groups in the Ramig et al. study.
Single-sample t tests revealed that none of these differences
were statistically significant. Thus, the comparisons at all
four conditions met the expectation that the newly collected
X-PD means were representative of SPL data for individuals
with PD previously reported.
Group means following treatment. Table 4 presents SPL
means for all groups and all four tasks, before and after treatment. No statistically significant differences between the
population means derived from the T-PD group in the 2001
publication and the X-PD sample were found in three of the

100 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007

FIGURE 1. Measurement of SPL at 30 cm in the Lee Silverman Voice TreatmentExtended group for four different
speech tasks before, immediately after, and 6 months after therapy.

four conditions. For the picture condition, the difference between the population mean derived from the T-PD group and
the X-PD sample mean was found to be statistically significant,
the X-PD group mean being larger. At 6 months, no statistically significant differences between these groups were found
in any of the four conditions.
As expected, statistically significant differences between
the population mean derived from the NT-PD group (control)
in the 2001 publication and the X-PD sample were found in
all four conditions after treatment and at follow-up, the X-PD
group having significantly higher SPL.

Question 4: Is There Evidence of Functional

Improvement in Communication
Following LSVT-X?
Voice Handicap Index. Prior to treatment, the LSVT-X
groups mean VHI score was 44 (SD = 22), a rating that is
moderately correlated with an intermediate level of voice

handicap (Jacobson et al., 1997). The posttreatment group mean

fell to 30 (SD = 17), a drop into the mild self-rating category. This difference was not statistically significant ( p = .07).
Examination of individual scores showed that 4 of the
12 participants (33%) indicated significant improvement after
treatment, each dropping his or her scores 31 points or more
(according to Jacobson et al., 1997, a significant difference
requires a reduction by a minimum of 18 points). Three of
these participants maintained that improvement at follow-up;
the fourth was not available for follow-up data collection.
None of the 12 participants showed significant worsening on
the VHI at posttreatment or follow-up evaluation (group mean
for follow-up = 32, SD = 14).
Perceptual study. To determine interrater reliability, the
scores of each of the four raters for all three treatment groups
(i.e., 41 scores for each rater) were compared using intraclass
correlation coefficient procedures. Though significant differences between the average scores of the raters were found,
F(3, 120) = 9.285, p < .001, a significant intraclass correlation

TABLE 2. Changes in SPL following LSVT-X from pre- to posttreatment and follow-up for individual tasks.
Comparison

M (SD ) dB SPL at 30 cm

Obtained t value

Significance (two-tailed)

Phonation
Pre- vs. posttreatment
Pretreatment vs. follow-up
Posttreatment vs. follow-up

72.0 (6.3) vs. 83.0 (3.9)

72.0 (6.3) vs. 82.7 (4.7)
83.0 (3.9) vs. 82.7 (4.7)

10.12
9.87
0.25

<.001
<.001
.805

Rainbow
Pre- vs. posttreatment
Pretreatment vs. follow-up
Posttreatment vs. follow-up

72.7 (3.5) vs. 79.6 (3.3)

72.7 (3.5) vs. 78.7 (3.5)
79.6 (3.3) vs. 78.7 (3.5)

6.44
5.61
0.84

<.001
<.001
.411

Picture
Pre- vs. posttreatment
Pretreatment vs. follow-up
Posttreatment vs. follow-up

70.2 (2.7) vs. 77.2 (2.5)

70.2 (2.7) vs. 75.5 (3.1)
77.2 (2.5) vs. 75.5 (3.1)

6.57
4.95
1.62

<.001
.001
.121

Conversation
Pre- vs. posttreatment
Pretreatment vs. follow-up
Posttreatment vs. follow-up

69.6 (2.5) vs. 75.7 (2.6)

69.6 (2.5) vs. 73.7 (2.6)
75.7 (2.6) vs. 73.7 (2.6)

5.65
4.14
1.79

<.001
.005
.089

Spielman et al.: LSVTExtended and Parkinsons Disease

101

TABLE 3. Comparisons of LSVT-X SPL means before treatment with sample means from Ramig, Sapir, Fox,
and Countryman (2001) representing estimates of two populations: a PD group prior to receiving treatment
and a PD control group not receiving treatment.
Group comparison

M (SD) dB SPL at 30 cm

Obtained t value

Significance (two-tailed)

Pretreatment of T-PD
Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

Est. population vs. X-PD

69.1 (5.1) vs. 72.0 (6.3)
71.3 (3.2) vs. 72.7 (3.5)
69.0 (3.6) vs. 69.6 (2.5)
68.9 (4.6) vs. 70.3 (2.7)

1.56
1.35
0.99
1.80

.147
.203
.344
.099

Pretreatment of NT-PD
Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

Est. population vs. X-PD

69.3 (4.1) vs. 72.0 (6.3)
71.6 (3.6) vs. 72.7 (3.5)
69.3 (3.9) vs. 69.6 (2.5)
70.4 (4.4) vs. 70.3 (2.7)

1.45
1.05
0.50
0.18

.174
.316
.626
.864

Notes. For all t tests reported above, df = 10, with the obtained p values evaluated against the adjusted alpha level of .0021
in order to be considered statistically significant.

coefficient was also found, Cronbachs a(40, 120) = 0.90,

p < .001, indicating that even though the raters differed in their
criterion of better, they observed the same relative changes
in speech and voice from pretherapy to posttherapy to a high
degree of agreement. Intrarater reliability was tested by having
each rater score 20% of the pairs twice during the study. Pairs
of scores were compared using the Pearson productmoment
correlation coefficient. The average correlation coefficient
was r = .95, with a range of .88 to .98, indicating a high degree
of internal consistency within each rater.
Scores for the perceptual study were adjusted so that all
final ratings reflected a presentation of pretreatment followed
by posttreatment, regardless of the actual presentation. Therefore, if a speaker was given a score of 30 and the presentation

of samples was pretreatmentposttreatment, it was not

changed; if, however, the presentation was posttreatment
pretreatment, it was converted to +30. All adjusted scores
above zero indicate better speech following therapy, and all
negative scores indicate that speech sounded worse. Mean
ratings and standard errors for the three groups are as follows:
X-PD, M = 19.3, SE = 4.3; T-PD, M = 20, SE = 4.0; NT-PD,
M = 4.5, SE = 3.8. Because there were significant differences between the mean ratings of the judges, a 3 4 mixed
ANOVAwas used to examine the magnitude of change in voice
and speech between the groups (X-PD, T-PD, and NT-PD)
while controlling for the differences across raters, the within
factor. A significant main effect for treatment groups was
found, F(2, 38) = 5.02, p = .012, h = .21. Post hoc comparison

TABLE 4. Comparisons of X-PD means after treatment and at 6 months to sample means from Ramig, Sapir, Fox,
and Countryman (2001) representing estimates of two populations: a PD group after receiving treatment
and a PD control group not receiving treatment.
Comparison

M (SD) dB SPL at 30 cm

Obtained t value

Significance (two-tailed)

T-PD posttreatment vs. X-PD posttreatment

Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

82.4
77.9
74.5
74.4

(3.9) vs. 83.3

(4.2) vs. 79.7
(4.0) vs. 75.8
(4.3) vs. 77.3

(3.9)
(3.3)
(2.6)
(2.5)

0.82
1.96
1.86
4.34

.429
.076
.089
.001*

T-PD follow-up vs. X-PD follow-up

Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

79.8
76.1
72.7
73.4

(3.7) vs. 82.7

(3.2) vs. 78.7
(3.6) vs. 73.7
(3.7) vs. 75.5

(4.7)
(3.5)
(2.6)
(3.1)

2.07
2.54
1.44
2.39

.065
.030
.180
.038

NT-PD posttreatment vs. X-PD posttreatment

Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

70.5
71.9
69.4
70.7

(4.4) vs. 83.3

(4.1) vs. 79.7
(3.9) vs. 75.8
(4.1) vs. 77.3

(3.9)
(3.3)
(2.6)
(2.5)

11.42
8.42
8.99
9.86

<.001*
<.001*
<.001*
<.001*

NT-PD follow-up vs. X-PD follow-up

Phonation
Rainbow
Monologue
Picture

70.6
71.9
69.5
70.7

(4.1) vs. 82.7

(4.1) vs. 78.7
(3.2) vs. 73.7
(4.1) vs. 75.5

(4.7)
(3.5)
(2.6)
(3.1)

8.60
6.60
5.88
5.49

<.001*
<.001*
<.001*
<.001*

*Statistically significant as the obtained p value is less than the adjusted alpha level of .0021; for all t tests reported above,
df = 10.

102 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007

using Tukey t tests revealed that both treated PD groups differed significantly from the untreated control group: X-PD,
t(13.5) = 2.34, p = .035; T-PD, t(13.5) = 2.64, p = .02. Results
indicate that the speech of both treated groups was considered better following therapy, compared with the untreated
group.

Discussion
The goal of this study was to evaluate whether LSVT-X,
an extended version of LSVT, delivered over 2 months (rather
than 1 month) with more home practice, can produce measurable speech and voice changes comparable to those typically seen following traditional LSVT. Results for this group
of 12 participants indicate significant changes in vocal SPL
following LSVT-X. These changes appear consistent with
traditional LSVT when compared with population means from
an earlier study (Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001).
Participants receiving LSVT-X were also perceived as having
better speech after therapy compared with before, and were
not considered significantly different in this regard from
participants who had received traditional LSVT. Finally, selfratings using the VHI also suggest that on the whole, participants who received LSVT-X were less negatively affected by
their voices following treatment and did not perceive decline
over a 6-month period. Self-ratings of vocal improvement
reached statistical significance at posttreatment and follow-up
for at least 25% of participants. As the participants in the
historical LSVT study did not complete the VHI, these results
cannot be compared across studies.
The main differences between LSVT and LSVT-X are the
distribution of the 16 treatment sessions over 2 months (versus
1 month), the amount of directed home practice, and the length
of time between treatment sessions. Given that participants
in the X-PD group received as much direct treatment as traditional LSVT clients, it is not entirely surprising that outcomes
were similar. In fact, while the total face-to-face time with a
clinician was equivalent, the length of time to consolidate
new motor programs was twice as long and the amount of
homework practice was more than twice as much for the
LSVT-X group. This increased practice time may partially account for why participants in the X-PD group improved and
compared favorably to the T-PD group from 2001 (Schmidt &
Lee, 1999). The X-PD group had 8 weeks instead of 4 weeks
for learning the target voice, with 2 weeks at each level of
the hierarchy. In addition, the X-PD group practiced more than
twice as much on their own (96 homework assignments compared with 40). These assignments also included individualized carryover communication tasks, thus increasing the
opportunities for more specific practice and generalization
over a longer period of time. Although in this study the members of the X-PD group did not perform significantly better
than the historical LSVT group, the trend toward increasing
vocal SPL from follow-up1 to follow-up2 in the X-PD group
raises the question of whether target motor patterns might have
been better established in this group.
It was somewhat surprising that the relative frequency of
feedback did not appear to negatively affect the outcomes of
the LSVT-X participants. During traditional LSVT, the clinician provides feedback for 4 consecutive days over 4 weeks,

while LSVT-X allows for feedback every other day, twice

a week, for 8 weeks. This has implications for the accuracy
of home practice that could affect the acquisition of a new
communication skill. Specifically, a potential disadvantage of
reducing feedback early in therapy is the danger of not being
able to easily shape a healthy loud target voice before the client
returns home to practice for a day. The voice practiced in
homework exercises must be the target voice taught in the
clinical sessions for the client to be successful. The specificity
of practice hypothesis states that when an individual performs
movements repeatedly, a sensory representation is formed
specific to the task (Coull, Tremblay, & Elliot, 2001). This
hypothesis predicts that conditions of practice should closely
approximate skills of retention. If homework or carryover
activities are too different from the skill practiced, then there
will not be a transfer of learning beyond the practice conditions. In addition, changes in central drive related to PD (Baker
et al., 1998; Berardelli et al., 2001; Morris, Iansek, McGinley,
Matyas, & Huxham, 2005) result in the person perceiving
that he or she is speaking too loudly when he or she is speaking
with normal loudness, which makes carryover of the target
voice to homework even more challenging with a less frequent
treatment schedule.
While the LSVT-X schedule may be attractive, there are
practical considerations to bear in mind. In terms of efficiency,
the long-term work load for both clinicians and clients is actually greater than typical LSVT and may result in more unbillable time or less clinical contact. Specifically, LSVT-X
requires a total of 96 individual homework assignments,
56 more than regular LSVT. As taught in LSVT training workshops (Ramig & Fox, 2006), requirements for homework include hierarchical reading material, typically chosen to appeal
to individual interests, and specific carryover activities per
homework for each client at his or her current level (e.g., Call
your daughter and ask her three questions about her vacation in
your loud voice). Because preparation is not reimbursable,
this leads to more unbilled time spent by clinicians gathering
materials and creating carryover tasks to create the extra
56 homework assignments. Because home practice is considered an integral part of treatment, LSVT clinicians are
instructed to spend a few minutes of each session checking the
previous days homework and describing the next assignment.
With LSVT-X, a typical treatment session may include up
to 5 homework assignments to check or prepare and explain.
As a result, either LSVT-X sessions are increased in length
to accommodate homework discussion without cutting into
treatment time or practice time is reduced in order to stick to
the schedule. Participants in the present study received the
same amount of treatment as in traditional LSVT, and sessions
often went longer to cover homework.
One recent study measuring service delivery variables
related to LSVT (Wohlert, 2004) offers evidence to suggest
that treatment may be altered further than the present study and
still result in positive outcomes. In that study, treatment was
provided at three different schedules to 11 people with PD
(four times a week for 4 weeks, twice a week for 8 weeks, or
twice a week for 4 weeks). Outcome measures included vocal
SPL, maximum duration of sustained phonation, and pitch
range following treatment and again 3 months later. The Sickness Impact Profile (Damiano, 1996) was also administered
Spielman et al.: LSVTExtended and Parkinsons Disease

103

as a functional measure of change. Results indicated that immediately following treatment, vocal SPL increased for all
participants during reading and for all but 2 during sustained
phonation. Three months later, most of these gains were substantially reduced. While results suggest positive immediate
outcomes for different LSVT schedules, they cannot be easily
compared with published LSVT efficacy studies due to significant differences in methodology. For example, 4 of 11 participants chose their preferred group due to transportation
issues, resulting in incomplete randomization. This method
also produced unbalanced groups, with 3 in the 4 4 group,
2 in the 2 8 group, and 6 in the 2 4 group. There were also
significant differences in data collection. In contrast to other
LSVT studies, participants in this study were cued to phonate
loudly before and after treatment, and so spontaneous gains in
vocal SPL could not be accurately measured after treatment.
Furthermore, treatment was administered by graduate students
who were supervised by a certified LSVT clinician, but not
certified themselves. It is therefore difficult to draw conclusions about which variables affected the outcome.
Readers should bear in mind several limitations of the
current study as well. Although the use of historical data for
comparison is not uncommon, further study with concurrently
collected control data is recommended to avoid potential
measurement error and differences in medical care that may
have influenced the groups in unpredictable ways. Also, because the LSVT-X group was led to believe there were two
different treatment schedules available, while the LSVT group
was not, the two groups were not completely randomized and
may have had different expectations.
There is a clear need for more and varied ways to administer LSVT, or any efficacious treatment, so the greatest number of people can benefit from speech-language pathology
services. However, the need to increase accessibility of
treatment ought to be tempered by the greater need to maintain
efficacy of treatment protocols (Trail et al., 2005). Although
principles such as intensity of motor training have long been
accepted in terms of behavioral recovery and improved function,
only recently have the neurobiological phenomena underlying such principles been stringently validated for the positive
effects on central nervous system functioning (Cotman &
Berchtold, 2002; Kleim et al., 2003; Vaynman & Gomez-Pinilla,
2005). Thus, efforts are ongoing to develop creative technologies that provide greater access at lower cost without disrupting the intensity or frequency of treatment. Recent advances
include technologies that allow clients to receive treatment
from a clinician at a distance (e.g., telemedicine; Hill &
Theodoros, 2002; Mashima et al., 2003), as well as computer
devices that help administer treatment and collect data. Devices include the LSVT Companion (LSVT-C; Halpern et al.,
2004), a specially programmed personal digital assistant
(PDA) that is designed to help clients work independently and
collect data for speech-language pathologists to assess therapy
progress. Preliminary results from a study of this device indicate that participants of various ages and with little or no computer experience can use the LSVT-C successfully and, when
used for a portion of their 16 treatment sessions, make gains in
vocal SPL comparable to those reported in previous studies
(Ramig, Sapir, Fox, & Countryman, 2001). Also in development is the LSVT Virtual Therapist (Cole, Ramig, Yan,

Halpern, & Van Vuuren, 2004), a computerized therapist based

on live clinical models, which guides therapy, provides realtime feedback, and collects performance data. Both computer
devices are intended to respond to a clients individual needs
and can be programmed to meet specific goals. Neither device is meant to replace a trained clinician. Rather, they are
intended to complement traditional LSVT so that some sessions
out of the total of 16 can be conducted at home with the aid
of technology.
Future research should continue to examine ways to make
treatment more accessible, more efficient, and more effective.
While LSVT-X is promising, further study is needed with
larger subject groups, simultaneous controls, and data collection out to 2 years, to truly establish efficacy that is comparable
to LSVT. Additional areas for research include other possible
treatment schedules, the effects of different feedback schedules, and examination of facial expression, speech articulation,
and swallowing, all of which appear to change following
traditional LSVT.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Grant R01 DC00150 from the
National Institutes of Health. We are extremely grateful to Jill
Petska for her help with numerous aspects of this study, and to
Elizabeth Coger, Heather Gustafson, Samantha Magnuson, and
Marissa McRay for their help with the perceptual study. Finally,
special thanks to the participants and families who participated in
this study.

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Received July 7, 2005
Revision received May 9, 2006
Accepted December 10, 2006
DOI: 10.1044 /1058-0360(2007/014)
Contact author: Jennifer Spielman, National Center for Voice
and Speech, 1101 13th Street, Denver, CO 80204.
E-mail: jspielman@dcpa.org.
Leslie Mahler is now at the University of Rhode Island.

106 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 16 95 107 May 2007

Appendix
Traditional Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) Versus Extended Version
(LSVT-X) Treatment and Homework Schedule
LSVT (four 1-hr sessions per week)

LSVT-X (two 1-hr sessions per week)

Week 1: drills plus words and phrases

Week 1 homework = 10 assignments

Week 1: drills plus words and phrases

Week 1 homework = 12 assignments

Week 2: drills plus sentences

Week 2 homework = 10 assignments

Week 2: drills plus words and phrases

Week 2 homework = 12 assignments

Week 3: drills plus paragraph reading

Week 3 homework = 10 assignments

Week 3: drills plus sentences

Week 3 homework = 12 assignments

Week 4: drills plus conversation

Week 4 homework = 10 assignments

Week 4: drills plus sentences

Week 4 homework = 12 assignments

Total homework assignments = 40

Week 5: drills plus paragraph reading

Week 5 homework = 12 assignments
Week 6: drills plus paragraph reading
Week 6 homework = 12 assignments
Week 7: drills plus conversation
Week 7 homework = 12 assignments
Week 8: drills plus conversation
Week 8 homework = 12 assignments
Total homework assignments = 96

Note. Homework is done for 5-10 min once on treatment days and 10-15 min twice
(each time) on no-treatment days. Each homework assignment includes individual
carryover activities for that day, as well as individualized readings for the hierarchy level.

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